Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

This week we’re talking about how Bill Belichick turns duds into studs, principles, and D-Day. Let's get into it.

The Best Out of Any Guy

As star receiver Randy Moss once said, "Bill Belichick knows how to get the best out of any guy."

Take Heath Evans, for example. A monster fullback, Evans was drafted by the Seahawks but barely played in four seasons. Then he played six games for the Dolphins where he had one rushing attempt for zero yards.

The Dolphins cut Evans, and Belichick picked him up.

Three weeks later, wearing a Patriots jersey and playing against the Dolphins, Evans put up 102 yards on 20 touches in a Patriots win.

Evans wasn't the problem. It was his coaches.

Belichick was better than other coaches at spotting a player's true strengths. He knew Evans was more than a blocker.

"He knew my strengths more than I knew," Evans said, "and he knew my weaknesses more than I knew, almost from the jump."

Spotting strengths was part of his recipe for success, but Belichick had a few other tactics for squeezing all the juice from his players: setting high standards, being a teacher, and understanding motivation.

Being in the Pats organization was a whole new world for Evans.

"I saw what a championship mentality is," he said. "I saw how to study film. I saw what real leadership was from players. I saw what real football discipline was. I also saw the pressure from day one to be overly prepared because of what Bill puts you through every day."

Those are standards.

But Belichick was also a teacher.

As Ian O'Connor wrote in his biography of Belichick:

"Evans said that when he first got to Foxborough, he had no clue how to look at defenses...Belichick taught Evans to ask himself, 'What's the shade of the outside linebacker? What's the positioning of the 3-technique? What's the alignment of the safeties?'

"Evans would line up in the backfield with Kevin Faulk, and the two of them would talk about everything they were seeing. In five to ten seconds, they could diagnose everything coming their way. Belichick had given them the answers to every test by teaching them how to study."

It wasn't just that he taught them how to study. He expected them to do it.

He would see a player in the hallway and quiz him on what a specific team would run in a specific situation. Evans said players were expected to have "stockpiles of answers for him," which, again, speaks to standards.

Finally, Belichick could figure out what made guys tick.

After his time in Seattle and Miami, Evans had no confidence.

"Mike Holmgren would just yell and scream at me and never really give me any way to get better," said Evans, "and it freakin' killed me on the inside, because I'm a pleaser. If you ask Bill, he'd know that I wanted to do well for the people I care about. I wanted to do well for my family. I wanted to do well for my coaches, and the people that took a chance on me or invested in me. Bill knew how to get to me and coach me so I could please him and make him happy."

It's a simple formula. For leaders who want to get the most from their people, they need to:

• Be observant enough to spot strengths and weaknesses.

• Understand what makes them tick.

• Set and hold high standards.

• Be a teacher.

Putting your people in the right positions. Keeping them motivated. Setting high expectations. And giving them the tools they need to improve.

Those are the responsibilities of a leader.

Belichick set an excellent example from the sidelines, but it's a playbook we can apply wherever we find ourselves leading others.

You Are What You Won't Do For Money

I enjoyed this read from Ryan Holiday about principles.

It's easy to say you won't do something—promote a questionable product, work for a shady character, source products from a country with immoral views on human rights. But then when you have a huge money making opportunity to do that thing, do you still feel the same way?

I'm not asking this judgmentally. Reflecting back on my life, I can't think of many times when I've faced a situation like this. I'd like to think I would make the right decision, but you never really know until it's sitting in front of you.

So I thought this piece was an important reminder and a good prompt to think about while going for a long walk.

And of course, a lot of leadership is the ability to make really hard decisions. Decisions like Holiday talks about in this piece. Probably a good idea to think about them before we need to.

A Few Quotes on D-Day

Today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day, arguably the most consequential day in world history.

I learned a lot about the invasion last year while reading The Guns at Last Light, and I compiled some of the more interesting tidbits into this article.

I love learning about history because it helps me understand current events with more perspective. And military history, in particular, has a lot of important lessons that also apply to leadership and business.

Hope you enjoy this article while taking a few minutes to remember what happened on this day 81 years ago.

Workout of the Week

This is a fun workout, but it smokes your shoulders. Good luck!

"Jump Around"

AMRAP 18 (As many rounds as possible in 18 mins)

• 15 box jumps (24" box)

• 12 push press (95 lb bar)

• 9 toes to bar

I got six rounds plus 32 reps, which was 17 reps better than last time I did this one. Let me know how you do!

Quote of the Week

"If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear." - Kobe Bryant

Have a question or a comment? Respond to this email.

Talk soon,

Joe